With Quali over, the next race marks the beginning of the end for this season. We are about 3/4 of the way through the WDC/WCC, and while it is quite clear that Mercedes will win the WCC, the WDC is still up for grabs. Singapore marks one of the most physically demanding races on the calendar and as it is one of only three street-races on the calendar, it will show some seldom-seen strengths and weaknesses of not just the teams, but the drivers as well.
The big surprise of Quali was not Hamilton's Bond-esque pole position, but Raikkonen's outstanding performance in Q1. Out of nowhere he rose to the top in Q1, showing that he still has what it takes to be at the front of the pack and hasn't forgotten how he won the WDC in 2007. It is a shame that his car let him down, but it is definitely great to hear that he is finally comfortable in the Ferrari. Hopefully we can see him performing similar to Alonso. He is still driving a car with a wet noodle for a front end, but it seems the engineers have finally managed to tweak the handling to his liking. Furthermore, the new radio regulations should allow him the freedom to do what he does best without the interference of his team with info about trivial things like 'tire wear' and 'fuel saving.' We should see his performance increase from here on out now that he is more confident in the car. This is something that I am looking forward to, as he has proven to be a formidable opponent.
The star of the season so far is Daniel Ricciardo without a doubt. With wins at Canada, Belgium, and Spa, he is the the only driver that has won a race this season that does NOT drive for Mercedes. You can bet that he will not be far behind the Mercedes'. Ricciardo is also the only driver with a remote chance of challenging either Rosberg or Hamilton for the WDC. I cannot wait to see his smile taking up most of the screen during the podium interviews. He will definitely be taking the fight straight to Mercedes as this season comes to a close.
The Merc battle is reaching a climax. With just 22 points separating Hamilton from Rosberg, tensions reached a head with the British driver qualifying a mere .007 seconds ahead of his German rival. Hopefully both Mercedes don't have any further issues, as we are all looking forward to more action between the two. Now that car setup messages are banned from the pit wall on a turn-by-turn basis, the skill of the two drivers will become paramount, Rosberg has shown a tendency to go deep into chicanes like T1 at Monza, and he made the same mistake in Q1. Luckily Hamilton uses a more rear biased setup that Rosberg, and so he tends to avoid overheating his front brakes. However, in these hot and humid conditions the drivers are doing a great deal of heavy braking with little opportunity to cool the brakes until the start/finish straight or just before memorial corner. Long braking sequences in turns 14-21 could be too much for the Silver Arrows, so look for braking issues similar to Monza. While the team will certainly be running with larger brake ducts, we may see some cooling issues return here.
Williams have been stealing the spotlight beginning with their powerful performance at Austria. They certainly have found a balance between top speed and downforce which nearly makes up for their lack of power. From Austria we have seen Bottas achieve multiple podiums with Massa chasing close behind. While the WCC is mostly decided at this point, Williams stands a chance of knocking RBR out of 2nd place -- especially with double points being awarded at Abu Dhabi.
For one of the few times this season, Mercedes do not have a tremendous pace advantage. Ferrari, Williams, and Red Bull are all trailing within just .506 seconds to Hamilton. The race could be decided by a slow pitstop or a single mistake and with thunderstorms predicted for the race, rain may play a large factor as well.
The big surprise of Quali was not Hamilton's Bond-esque pole position, but Raikkonen's outstanding performance in Q1. Out of nowhere he rose to the top in Q1, showing that he still has what it takes to be at the front of the pack and hasn't forgotten how he won the WDC in 2007. It is a shame that his car let him down, but it is definitely great to hear that he is finally comfortable in the Ferrari. Hopefully we can see him performing similar to Alonso. He is still driving a car with a wet noodle for a front end, but it seems the engineers have finally managed to tweak the handling to his liking. Furthermore, the new radio regulations should allow him the freedom to do what he does best without the interference of his team with info about trivial things like 'tire wear' and 'fuel saving.' We should see his performance increase from here on out now that he is more confident in the car. This is something that I am looking forward to, as he has proven to be a formidable opponent.
The star of the season so far is Daniel Ricciardo without a doubt. With wins at Canada, Belgium, and Spa, he is the the only driver that has won a race this season that does NOT drive for Mercedes. You can bet that he will not be far behind the Mercedes'. Ricciardo is also the only driver with a remote chance of challenging either Rosberg or Hamilton for the WDC. I cannot wait to see his smile taking up most of the screen during the podium interviews. He will definitely be taking the fight straight to Mercedes as this season comes to a close.
The Merc battle is reaching a climax. With just 22 points separating Hamilton from Rosberg, tensions reached a head with the British driver qualifying a mere .007 seconds ahead of his German rival. Hopefully both Mercedes don't have any further issues, as we are all looking forward to more action between the two. Now that car setup messages are banned from the pit wall on a turn-by-turn basis, the skill of the two drivers will become paramount, Rosberg has shown a tendency to go deep into chicanes like T1 at Monza, and he made the same mistake in Q1. Luckily Hamilton uses a more rear biased setup that Rosberg, and so he tends to avoid overheating his front brakes. However, in these hot and humid conditions the drivers are doing a great deal of heavy braking with little opportunity to cool the brakes until the start/finish straight or just before memorial corner. Long braking sequences in turns 14-21 could be too much for the Silver Arrows, so look for braking issues similar to Monza. While the team will certainly be running with larger brake ducts, we may see some cooling issues return here.
Williams have been stealing the spotlight beginning with their powerful performance at Austria. They certainly have found a balance between top speed and downforce which nearly makes up for their lack of power. From Austria we have seen Bottas achieve multiple podiums with Massa chasing close behind. While the WCC is mostly decided at this point, Williams stands a chance of knocking RBR out of 2nd place -- especially with double points being awarded at Abu Dhabi.
For one of the few times this season, Mercedes do not have a tremendous pace advantage. Ferrari, Williams, and Red Bull are all trailing within just .506 seconds to Hamilton. The race could be decided by a slow pitstop or a single mistake and with thunderstorms predicted for the race, rain may play a large factor as well.
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